While Asaeya trained after listening to his lecture, Inala grabbed a bone piece from his bag and held it. He closed his eyes and fired up the Mystic Bone Art, beginning cultivation.
He focused on its latter segments, raising his proficiency by recalling his experience in meeting Resha and Granny Oyo, especially when he obtained Skills from them.
Through the Prana Domination Skill, Inala gained complete control over the bone piece, able to sense its every detail. Following that, he recalled the scene when he absorbed Skills from Bone Slips.
Mystic Bone Art—Mystic Skill Creator!
Inala catalysed his cultivation art and peered deeper into its mysteries, taking advantage of his experience and the effects of Mystic Skill Creator to grab the portion in the cultivation technique related to the Bone Slip Skill.
There were multiple veils over the Mystic Bone Art, separating it by layers. Each layer conformed to a cultivation Stage. The Bone Slip Skill was available in the second layer, accessible only by Body Stage Mammoth Clansmen.
But now, the effects from Mystic Skill Creator bombarded the mist and rattled it, revealing some gap through which his consciousness entered. In the end, the segment related to the Bone Slip Skill was highlighted, allowing Inala to grasp it and learn its secrets.
Mystic Bone Art—Bone Slip!
Inala inscribed the details of the Sculptor Skill in the Bone Slip and inspected it, ‘Alright, there are no issues with it. The Sculptor Skill has been perfectly copied. Man, now that I experience it for myself, I truly underestimated Mystic Skill Creator. It’s more overpowered than I thought.’
As long as he obtained enough experience, using Mystic Skill Creator, he should be able to unlock the entirety of the Mystic Bone Art, all the way to its end—Transcendence Stage!
That would give him valuable information not available to even Resha. Moreover, with a full version of Mystic Bone Art, the quality of Skills he could derive would elevate to a whole new level. ‘I can’t wait to start training already.’
“Asaeya, take this.” Saying so, Inala handed her the Bone Slip.
“A Bone Slip?” Asaeya was surprised, “But how? You’re only at the Spirit Stage. And I noticed that it was merely a piece of bone when you grabbed it. How did it become a Bone Slip? Only cultivators at the Body Stage and above can use the Skill.”
“I told you,” Inala expressed pride in himself, mildly arrogant at his abilities, “I’m something of a genius myself.”
“Amazing!” Asaeya was excited as she grabbed the Bone Slip and seeped her Prana through it, sensing a stream of information enter her mind and condense into a Skill, “Sculptor Skill?”
“Master, is this what you used to carve?”
“Addressing me as Inala will do.” Inala nodded and retracted the Bone Slip and crushed it, destroying all information inside. He didn’t have enough expertise like Resha to make the contents in the Bone Slip disappear after it was accessed once.
That part was only accessible in the Mystic Bone Art after reaching the Life Stage. Therefore, he simply corrupted the information. Of course, there was still a chance someone proficient with the Bone Slip Skill could rewire the corrupted data and obtain the Skill.
Inala planned to divide the piece of bone into multiple fragments and expend them for various objects. That way, even if someone gets a fragment, the information in it would only be a garbled mess, not worth spending time and effort to decrypt it.
“Use the Skill,” Inala said and pushed a mud slab towards her, thinking as he observed her actions, ‘It took me six years to brush up my art skills and a month here to convert it into its sculpting form. Now, the moment she obtained the Sculptor Skill, it’s as if she also received my artistic sense and habits. It’s like a part of me has been handed over to her. Skills are terrifying.’
Prana was energy condensed by the fusion between energies of the body, mind, and soul. Therefore, every unit of Prana in a cultivator pretty much contained their genetic data. 𝗈𝗏𝑳xt.𝗰𝑶𝐦
A Skill was basically the condensation of one’s experiences related to the usage of Prana to achieve a certain effect. Therefore, when the Skill is conceptualised, the information in it also consisted of the creator’s habits, biases, instincts, etc.
Therefore, when Asaeya used his Sculptor Skill, her actions were mimicry of himself. Of course, as she continues to use the Sculptor Skill, it would gradually be influenced by her Prana and evolve to suit her better.
And now, this influence was happening at a rapid pace. From a mimicry of his actions to an original form of her own, Asaeya barely took forty minutes to do so, ‘I fear for an average cultivator, this would have taken a few months at least. She’s indeed terrifying. It’s like witnessing Resha from the second half of Sumatra Chronicles.’
Inala became hyped at that realisation. How would he religiously follow a novel for six years unless he loved it? Inala disliked the Resha from the initial parts of Sumatra Chronicles, but the Resha from the latter half was his favourite.
Every single scene portraying Resha’s excellence caused his blood to pump in excitement. And now, Asaeya made him feel the same way, ‘I’ll definitely nurture you into a genius even better than Resha.’
‘I want to see you defeat him!’ At that thought, Inala couldn’t control himself. He almost gave her all his Skills. But a couple of seconds later, he understood his reckless stupidity and calmed down, taking in deep breaths, ‘Control yourself, dumbass! If you give her everything, you’ll only hinder her mental growth. Even Resha shone as a protagonist only after going through the rites that all protagonists go through. So shun your stupidity.’
He mentally berated himself as much as possible until his riled-up thoughts turned calm like a still lake.
The evening quickly arrived and it was time for Asaeya to leave. She bowed in response, “I gained a lot from you, Inala.”
“I’ll cultivate harder to become a successor.” She announced.
“Good,” Inala nodded, “We’ll keep your graduation target ten months from now. Since you almost reached the peak of the Spirit Stage, that’ll be easy. I’ll also be training you on other areas to strengthen your Spirit Containers to the limit.”
“Right, you’re affected by the Fragment Disease.” Asaeya nodded in excitement, “Despite that, and even after crying for two days due to the Imagination Art of Defeat, you didn’t lose a single unit of Prana. I’m definitely interested in the know-how of your training methods.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be teaching it to you eventually.” Inala nodded, “You can reveal information about our relationship. But don’t leak anything about the Skills I impart to you. That should remain absolutely confidential.”
“That goes without saying.” Asaeya bowed in respect and got up, “I’ll arrive every alternate day to avoid burdening your schedule. I’m aware you have a lot of portrait commissions as well.”
“Take care, and be safe.” Inala bode farewell as he observed Asaeya carry the Imagination Art and exit the guest room. Right next to it was the detachable room that shuttled between the 44th and 43rd Settlements.
Once Asaeya boarded it, the room flew to the 43rd Settlement slowly. A couple of stray Zingers targeted it but were instantly killed by the elites stationed nearby.
Inala observed the master that was controlling the shuttle, noticing a faint droplet of sweat covering his forehead, ‘This master seems very old. If he were to ever falter, the shuttle would fall. And his condition makes it a possibility. A straight drop from this height guarantees death. It’s the best opportunity for Asaeya’s siblings to deal with her…Wait a second!’
His eyes widened in realisation as Inala observed the old man’s eyes droop for some reason. His forehead was covered with sweat now.
Right as a foreboding sensation pervaded his being, Inala saw the old man faint. And in response, the shuttle lost its balance and dropped, falling through the layer of clouds.
Within it was his disciple, “Asaeya!”